Lockheed Martin recently destroyed an inflatable habitat that could one day house astronauts in space and for good reason. They are using this data as part of NASA’s NextSTEP program, which involves the company developing an inflatable structure technology to support space habitation in low-Earth orbit, at the Moon and other parts of our solar system.
Lockheed Martin recently delivered an electric 300 kW-class laser, the most powerful laser that Lockheed Martin has produced to date, to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering OUSD (R&E). This high-powered laser is set to integrate with the DOD demonstration efforts including the U.S. Army’s Indirect Fires Protection Capability-High Energy Laser (IFPC-HEL) Demonstrator laser weapon system.
Lockheed Martin and the US Air Force have successfully launched the AGM-183A ARRW hypersonic from a B-52H Stratofortress. This marks ARRW’s (Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon) fourth successful test flight and shows the weapon’s ability to reach and withstand operational hypersonic speeds, while collecting crucial data for use in further flight tests.
Lockheed Martin, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), and Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD) have successfully tested the Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC), reaching speeds in excess of Mach 5 at altitudes greater than 65,000 feet. The data collected from this test will help Lockheed Martin leverage their resources, talents, and lessons learned across the corporation to positively influence outcomes.
NASA has just announced that it awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin Space to build the Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV). This small, lightweight rocket will transpor rock, sediment, and atmospheric samples from the surface of the Red Planet back to Earth. The harsh Martian surface is going to challenge the MAV, as it not only has to be rugged enough to withstand the harsh environment, but also adaptable to work with multiple spacecraft. Read more for a video and additional information.
NASA and Lockheed Martin’s X-59 QueSST supersonic aircraft has been nicknamed “Son of Concorde”, and rightfully so. The agencies hope that the ban on commercial supersonic flight over land can be lifted by replacing the loud sonic boom with a softer sonic “thump.” When shock waves from an object traveling through the air faster than the speed of sound merge together before they reach the ground, a sonic boom happens, resulting in a thunderclap. The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft will solve that issue.